This woman had a slightly different take.
Her description of the teenaged mother wearing a sweater in the snow is what really said "D.C." to me.
I think most people see the small children and babies on the buses and metro trains as a mildly annoying distraction. I never get over it though. Some two year old trapped on a dirty bus, no stroller, no time to play, nothing to do but try to get the attention of an exhausted-looking mom.
Where I'm from, two year olds travel lazily perched in a huge stroller, with eight different toys and snacks at hand.
Not here. It hurts to see the little heads bobbing down the metro escalator stairs. Kids who can barely stand up on their own, shuffling behind 21-years-old-at-the-most moms. Kids who obviously hate the whole thing, being dragged to day care or a relative's house way too early in the morning, all to fit into some $6 an hour employer's schedule.
This woman is right. Fuck billboard hypocrisy, "You deserve a chance to be a mom!" You deserve a chance to get a job that will let you buy a damn stroller. THEN be a mom.
And if you've already made the hard choice, without the bus placard's help? Then you deserve more than a "Yay! You're not an aborter!" message from some condescending jackass. They couldn't have spent the money for these ads on something like, providing day care for teenaged moms? Buying strollers for women's shelters? It had to be used to shame the women who want to have THE SEX?
7.31.2008
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What is your point here?
ReplyDeleteI closed the video one minute in. The woman was in hysterics. Maybe she said something truly insightful at the end, but for the most part it seemed like screaming and yelling.
I'm also unsure as to how this all fits in with the "Why I Hate D.C." theme.
I'm unsure what your point is.
ReplyDeleteIt's your problem if you can't look around you, see that something is stupid and unfair, and feel something for someone else for a moment.
Yet somehow you think it's my problem, so you get on here and demand a bunch of posts about other people. It's entitled and whiny. You want me to post a bunch of things saying, "Look at those other stupid people. ha ha they are not like me."
I'm not writing those posts because I don't like people like you. You're the problem with D.C.
You don't seem to get that.
Dear Rusty,
ReplyDeleteI know you hated us, but seriously--what did we do to deserve this? Or were the other essays really so bad that this was the successor you had to go with? That would blow my mind.
Please send help.
Love,
Christy
As for you, Liz, you're unbelievably bad at this. But you do have a unique talent: With just a few short posts, you've single-handedly brought down one of this city's most beloved blogs. Hats off to you. So now that you've adequately proven yourself, you can back away from the blogging table now. No one likes you, no one wants you, you're not cool, and you're goddamn fucking pathetic.
The whole point of this blog was to be snarky and judgemental. That was the fun of it. No one come's to Why I Hate DC to have their consciousness raised.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a real attitude problem, Liz.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of Rusty's best friends. I've been blogging for eight years, and I'm the reason he took an interest in blogging in the first place. If you want to get all snappy with me, that's your decision, but you'd be picking the wrong battle.
You've disrespected this blog's dedicated audience (yes, we're all people) by just storming onto the scene and posting random shit without even so much as introducing yourself. Who are you? Why do you hate D.C.? Why should we give a shit about you? Your entries provide no insight into those burning questions.
And don't get me started on the comment policy. You clearly have no experience in managing a blog, otherwise you'd realize that censoring comments after they've already been posted is the worse thing you can do as an editor.
So man up, start posting about D.C., and stop attacking your readers. (And, yes, we can attack you. That's how the fucking blogosphere works. If you don't like it, then either disable the comments or moderate comments through an approval process. But watch your audience disappear.)
-Toby, vividblurry.com
i feel like i'm entering a conversation half way...its like you walked up to me and just started talking...
ReplyDeleteI agree with "Life in a tiki hut" when Rusty would post on LSS I at least got some background information on what she was saying. At least get a pic of the billboard, was it in DC? You also could have touched on sex education and contraception programs in the district. What about the D.C. Child and Family Services failing those kids who died? Other things that could have been said or alluded to to bring it closer to home. I also find a little concern with your assumption that "they" are all teen mothers. Don't assume you know, even if its the past time in this town. Empathy is one thing but you have to point to whats being done or not being done in this town.
ReplyDeleteOh for pete's sakes, someone give Liz access to the Late Night Shots forum or something, this is getting ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI like how that woman is gonna be as big as she is but still wear heels. She workin' what she got.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, the fathers are sad, too. As I stood in line once at the McDonald's in Adams Morgan, I heard one of the sweetest sounds in life: a baby babbling happily to himself.
The father turns to him. "Hey, shut up," he says.
**
This post was better but you're still a douchebag.
I love this blog and am definitely surprised at this post. It just comes off very... Snobby and privileged and blind. I don't like to greet mean with mean but it doesn't appear to me that you have a clue what the Moms you are describing are dealing with. 'Why I Hate DC' is hilarious b/c of the hassle, the hypocrisy, the red-tape and the assholes. It's not funny that people struggle and don't have the 'luxe strollers you think they should have.
ReplyDeleteToby. You called me a bitch. (In a comment I deleted right before I opened this one). That's a pretty good reason for me to take a 'tude, don't you think? '
ReplyDeleteOr did you think you could call me names, and I would be grateful for your insight? Because that's a bit entitled. And I don't care what you are to Rusty. I liked Rusty. He seemed quite a bit more thoughtful than you. You seem like a jerk.
This town has plenty of people worth snarking on. Right now, most of the ones I'm seeing are leaving comments.
"This town has plenty of people worth snarking on. Right now, most of the ones I'm seeing are leaving comments."
ReplyDeleteAgain, the hatred for your readers.
This is what makes you a bitch. You've earned it, Liz.
liz,
ReplyDeleteyou might want to rename the blog to "i hate urban america and want to go back to the white-bread suburbs of the midwest"
have you ever ridden a bus or train before coming to DC? parents taking public transit with small children in tow is quite common in most american cities, not just DC.
you really sound more like a snotty, privileged brat rather than a true hater. i really don't think you're cut out for this gig.
Sheesh. Toby, hate is not a one-way street. It's like it never once occurred to you that the people you hate may already have formed an opinion about you.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say this but...
ReplyDeleteWe've endured several weeks of infrequent posts, protracted comment battles, over-defensiveness, and cutesy editorializing that has little relevance to THE SELF TITLED PURPPOSE OF THIS BLOG. I honestly don't think I want to follow this blog anymore. It's just tragic to see WIHDC die a slow, painful, silent death.
I remember when people gave Rusty a hard time when he first took the reins from James, but that was largely "new kid in school" stuff. What we're seeing on the comment board today is Phantom Menace outrage and if something isn't done... well, we'll have a walking Jabba the Hutt situation on our hands.
Rusty... do something. Even if she finally learns that the first rule of respecting your loyal readers is to post regularly, that’s not going to fix the suckage problem.
I thought this blog was about hating on DC? I'm really not sure what's going on here. There's plenty to hate about this city.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to get the feeling the new author may actually like DC.
Ummmmm...yeah...so...uh, why exactly do you hate DC?
ReplyDeleteLiz, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Frankly, sometimes Rusty's whining was tiresome (didn't keep me from avidly reading though), and I thought maybe you'd bring a fresh perspective. So far, all you've seemed to do is alienate people. You're really not continuing WIHDC in the spirit that Rusty ran it in. People insulted him in the comments all the time and he never deleted them, for example.
ReplyDeleteStep back and reevaluate what you're doing here. Respect the loyal subscribers of this blog. For God's sake, do a post where you introduce yourself, and explain what you're about, and why you even had any interest in continuing this blog (actually, this is partially Rusty's bad - he should have done more towards a transition, but I suspect he was a bit burnt out).
Otherwise, prepare to watch your subscriber numbers disappear and a DC tradition go down in flames.
This post kind of sucked. And the lack of a post even every three days (when was the last one?) sucks.
ReplyDeleteBut why the sudden Rusty love? He was just as much of a suburban douchebag as anyone else. He posted a lot, sure, but what did he post about?
1) Laura Sessions Stepp. YES, RUSTY, I GOT IT!! BORING!!
2) Metro sucks, delays, whatever. Hey, really? You ride metro and your fucking train was late, again! How thrilling.
3) The baseball stadium was a waste of money. Again: thanks for the update. It's still a waste of money. I GOT IT!!
At least Liz is making an effort to write about something other than the SAME GOD DAMN GRIPES we already heard 75 times.
Fair enough Jamie, but while "billboard hypocrisy" is indeed an unusual gripe, it was posted more out of condescension than out of hatred towards Washington, DC.
ReplyDeleteHatred towards Washington, DC being the point of this blog's existence, I thought that was a rather crucial element to be missing.
It's a chore just to read this thing now. Can we please have some snarky humor and a new blogger?!
ReplyDeleteJames, I'm with you. I didn't really get this post at all, to be quite honest. I'm just saying, Rusty wasn't all that.
ReplyDeleteLiz, some practical advice.
1) Turn anonymous comments back on
2) Write about hating DC, not hating yourself
3) Read DCist. If you can't find something to hate in any given day from the 20 things they will cover, it seems that the angry masses here will be sufficiently entertained if you write about LNS, Metro, the baseball stadium, or even traffic for god's sake.
But really, there's plenty of material that writes itself. Recent hatable topics:
1. DC responds to the death of a cyclist by issuing tickets to cyclists. I'm sure rusty wrote about the similar jaywalking enforcement that happened each time a pedestrian gets run over by a bus. No brainer.
2. Libraries cutting back hours, public school situations. Great thinking. Lets just get to the chase, huh? Why no shut down the schools entirely so we will be able to lock up every african american resident of the city by 2020.
3. Variable speed limit on the beltway. Yeah, right. As if anyone drives below 80 on the beltway anyway. This going to have as much impact as the "Aggressive Driver Imaging" sign. Another stupid waste of coin.
Lots to hate out there...
I freakin hate that poster. I thought that woman's "hysterics" were fully justified, particularly given the Bush administration's most recent malarky.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I thought the missing bit to this post was the DC connection. The ad campaign, the backwards legislation, the problem of teenage or just impoverished mothers - that's fairly widespread. In what crazy or misguided way(s) is DC government (or their Congressional overlords) contributing to the problem, or hamstringing solutions? I hate idiot right-wing nutjobs, but I come here to read about why I should hate DC.
It's official. This was Rusty's official FU to all of us.
ReplyDeleteLiz, I feel bad about how hard everyone is being but it is not going to stop. You clearly are the wrong writer for this blog. It's just not going to work. We know what we want from this blog and it is not what you are going to give us. Ever. You're not funny. You're not snarky. You're not irreverent. Your posts are just not interesting. Sorry.
It is clear how everyone feels. How can you live with yourself while you continue to destroy something so many people enjoyed for so long?
Why I Hate DC: I hate that it's a City of Absolute Contradiction, I hate that it should be so much better. The schools are a mess, the people are angry, racism abounds, Hill staffers on both sides just suck, tourists are fucking idiots, the Metro is slow, flammable and in the summer is seriously the worst smelling thing ever- besides the National Zoo or Adams Morgan the morning after. I hate that DC gets no respect at all. We have the worst News Teams aside from those in parodies. (I am talking to you, Pat Collins and Barbara Harrison) Part of me thinks all the imports need a lesson in Hating DC, because I was born and raised up in this crap.Back when metro closed before shows ended and the 9:30 club was in that other space. With the really big rats.
ReplyDeleteJamie, it’s because she's making Rusty look like the love child of Walter Cronkite had he fucked William Shakespeare. Yes, Rusty relied heavily on that oh so familiar formula of "The WaPo said X... well, I think Y," but at least it was angry, funny, and specific to DC.
ReplyDeleteThat’s why we miss him (and I suspect you do too by now). It’s not that Liz is a bad writer. It’s just that her work should really be on some other blog called "Liz's World" or something. And despite all the shit Rusty had thrown at him, to his credit he rarely deleted or restricted comments. When he did it was because they were racially offensive or very disruptive (you may remember the anon guy who posted Go Redskins literally hundreds if not a thousand times in one thread), not because they hurt his feeligns. I’ll shut up now, but I think the loyal readers here should make it clear that this is no longer a blog we recognize and we’re unhappy.
P.S. The LSS rivalry was hillarious-- how dare you speak such heresy ;)
Liz,
ReplyDeleteThis blog is going down faster than a whore at a dick-sucking convention. Only less erotic.
When Lyndon Johnson heard that Walter Cronkite was calling for withdrawal from Vietnam, Johnson said, "If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America."
ReplyDeleteReplace Cronkite with King Friday and middle America with any semblance of control, and you have the situation here.
Ahem.
ReplyDeleteTrolls.
I can hardly believe this has escaped your attention, but I've been hoping you'll leave. I want you to leave. I'm not stopping you. I'm not asking you to stay. I have no wish to keep you. I only wish you had the self control do it without wasting my time with a bunch of trolly whining.
You're the doinks who posted, "Die die die" for Rusty and "You have BOOBS" for me. I'm not leaving that up. I don't know how in the living holy hell you managed to twist things in your head so that I somehow owe you a forum for your brattiness.
I don't.
So get out and tell everyone about how you lost the beautiful "I hate you!!!!" vibe you had with Rusty. Those were, apparently, your glory days.
http://districtdiaries.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-i-hate-whyihatedc.html
ReplyDeleteSheesh. Rusty did get it worse.
Until, of course, I ended the hate-on-the-hater party by deleting crap comments. Oh no! The poor mistreated trolly DEARS.
Well, since my blog has been cited in defense of ... something (I'm not quite sure what) ... I think I need to chime in. Then I'm done.
ReplyDeleteI hated Rusty's writing style. I happen to like Liz's. The writing style is not what keeps me coming back. Care to venture a guess what is? Anyone? Alrighty then, I'll tell you. (But you really should have taken a guess.)
I come back here becaue I like being pissed off at people who hate D.C., as I happen to love it.
The problem here, Liz, as has been pointed out many times in this one thread, is that while your writing style is much improved over Rusty's, it lacks that local D.C.-hating venom that is the staple of why.i.hate.dc.
Find your inspiration where you want and post it in any voice you wish but make it fit into hating D.C. Otherwise you will lose your readers. If that were to happen, it would be a great loss and a waste of the time and engergy that James and Rusty put into making this what it is now.
Is that how you want to be viewed? Somehow I think not.
I agree with Jamie. Thanks Liz for bringing new themes to the blog and don't pay attention to the assholes who keep putting you down, they probably sent in a crappy ass essay and are bitter that you beat them to the rights of this blog.
ReplyDeleteNo stroller = city living?
ReplyDeleteNo stroller, to me, equals poor. Babies are fragile. Little kids, too. Metros and buses are shaky, dangerous places with electrified tracks unprotected by railings and drivers who accelerate like it's the Indy 500. It's no place to let a kid who just learned to walk, but can move faster than you think, run free.
I have seen plenty of people with strollers or other means to take care of the kid on the Metro. There are just too many on there as well with parents who obviously don't have the means to take care of them.
About a week before I wrote this I saw a woman holding an obvious newborn, just HOLDING. No carrier, no snuggly, while the baby's head flopped everywhere as the bus jerked at every stop and start. For one, that's a fast way to an arm cramp. Babies aren't heavy, but you try holding 8 pounds in one position for hours at a time. For another, it isn't good for the baby. They need a little more protection. What happens if the mom trips?
Someone needs to spend some money on some damn strollers. And to see a mom without resources standing next to an expensive sign paid for the purpose of yelling at women who don't follow through on every possible egg fertlization? It is just wrong.
Damn I just read this blog a few months too late. I haven't tuned in since Rusty left. All I can say to Liz is...
ReplyDelete1. Strollers can not be open on the bus.
2. Women in women's shelters have run away from abuse husbands probably with just the clothes on their backs and kids in tow. If you don't think they deserve a break in the form of a stroller then the next whyihatedc blog should be about how thoughtless DC self-absored shitheads can be.
3. Glad you lost your "job" on here.